Google, Industry Downplay 'Fast Lane' Plans

Google on Monday re-iterated its commitment to Net neutrality, and slammed a Wall Street Journal article that questioned the search engine's dedication to the cause as "confused". Industry observers also said that the practice of using edge servers was commonplace.

Google on Monday re-iterated its commitment to Net neutrality, and slammed a Wall Street Journal article that questioned the search engine's dedication to the cause as "confused."

Google said it uses a technology called edge caching, which stores Internet data on local servers that are physically closer to end users than Google's central servers. When users request that data, their proximity to the information means it will load faster on their browsers.

The Journal article did not specifically mention the use of edge caching as antithetical to Net neutrality, which argues that everyone should have equal access to the Internet, and should not be able to pay to get better online placement or speed. "Google's proposed arrangement with network providers, internally called OpenEdge, would place Google servers directly within the network of the service providers, according to documents reviewed by the Journal," the paper wrote.

Google wants an Internet "fast lane for its own content," according to the article.

However, that assertion "is based on a misunderstanding of the way in which the open Internet works," Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, wrote in a Monday blog post.

"Edge caching is a common practice used by ISPs and application and content providers in order to improve the end user experience," Whitt wrote.

Companies like Akamai, Limelight, and Amazon's Cloudfront all use local caching services, Whitt said.

"By bringing YouTube videos and other content physically closer to end users, site operators can improve page load times for videos and Web pages," Whitt wrote. "In addition, these solutions help broadband providers by minimizing the need to send traffic outside of their networks and reducing congestion on the Internet's backbones."

Caching is an "innovative network practice encouraged by the open Internet," he said.

Ben Scott, policy director of Washington-based interest group Free Press, was quoted in the Journal as saying that "selling you the right to skip ahead in the line is anathema to a culture of innovation."

In a Monday statement, Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, said that the group is "skeptical that Google is truly engaged in a nefarious plot to undermine the open Internet  the company denies it, and we look forward to all of the facts coming to light."

"If Google or any other company is planning to secretly violate Net neutrality, they will find themselves facing the same vigorous opposition from the Internet community against those  like Comcast and AT&T  that have threatened the open Internet," Silver said.

Earlier this year, Free Press filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Comcast after the cable company was accused of blocking access to file-sharing services like BitTorrent. The complaint eventually resulted in an FCC enforcement action that required Comcast to be more transparent about its network management practices.

Public Knowledge, another interest group that joined Free Press in its Comcast filing, dismissed the Journal article as "unfortunate reporting."

"The practices described in the article, known as 'caching,' are commonplace and have been for many years," according to a spokesman. "Caching in no way is a part of the Net neutrality issue of preventing discrimination by telephone and cable companies. The anonymous cable executive quoted in the story should know better than to conflate a story about irrelevant issues and old news into a story for a prominent publication."

The Journal also suggested that the use of edge caching by Google could test President-elect Barack Obama's commitment to Net neutrality, and quoteed Google's Whitt as saying that Obama's Net neutrality plans "are much less specific than they were before."

"For what it's worth, I don't recall making such a comment, and it seems especially odd given that President-elect Obama's supportive stance on network neutrality hasn't changed at all," Whitt said.

Free Press echoed that sentiment. "President-elect Obama gets it. His use of the Internet in his campaign is now legendary," Silver said. "Obama's support for Net neutrality  both through his policy agenda and public statements that he will take a backseat to no one  is among the clearest and most straightforward we have from any politician."

And the Open Internet Coalition  whose members include Google, Amazon, and eBay  criticized the article as a "fundamentally inaccurate portrayal of the current Net neutrality debate" and insisted that edge caching "does not involved the prioritization or degradation of Internet traffic."

The Journal also mentions that Microsoft and Yahoo "have withdrawn quietly" from a Net neutrality coalition to forge partnerships with the phone and cable companies. A Microsoft spokeswoman said that Microsoft withdrew its name from the "It's Our Net" Web site in October 2006 during the AT&T/BellSouth merger. The Web site and coalition no longer exist.

The spokeswoman pointed to Microsoft's long-standing position on Net neutrality, which "supports the right of consumers to access Internet content, services, and applications of their choice and to connect any non-harmful device to their broadband connections."

"Yahoo believes that all stakeholders  consumers, ISPs, online portals, Congress, the FCC and the FTC  should find a consensus on how best to ensure that Americans have access to a world-class Internet and an increasingly competitive online environment," Yahoo said in a statement. "It is absolutely critical that these same stakeholders address the need for more bandwidth to more consumers  the explosion of video traffic that will only increase in the future has moved the bandwidth issue to the very top of the priority list."

Editor's Note:This story was updated at 10:20 AM PDT with comments from Microsoft and Yahoo.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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